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I. Terminology and philosophy [German version] A. Modern concept The general modern meaning of the word 'tolerance' is the readiness of individuals, groups or states to permit the opinions, ways of life and philosophical and religious convictions of others to 'have validity' alongside their own. Today, the meaning of the word ranges from 'sufferance' (e.g. in the sense of constitutional law: the sufferance of immigrants, diverse confessions, religions) to the emphatic affirmation of the 'different' pheno…

I. History of the Concept and its Subsequent Influence [German version] A. Concept Human sacrifice (HS) is a form of killing considered lawful, similar to killing in pursuit of war, capital punishment, or a blood feud. It is, however, limited to the performance of offering rites that (a) are universally accepted in the respective religion and culture and (b) are conducted in a fashion similar to the sacrificial killing of other creatures. Killing in the context of other lawful rituals, such as the cult of the dead ( Gladiator) or the   devotio in battle, does …

[German version] (Lat. virgo Vestalis 'Vestal virgin'). Vesta's cult was taken care of by six virgines (or sacerdotes 'priestesses') Vestales, who lived in the atrium Vestae , near the aedes Vestae on the Forum Romanum (Rome III E, 2nd map, nr. 44). The group was headed by the virgo Vestalis maxima (honorary inscriptions esp. of the 3rd cent. AD with statues on the forum: CIL VI 32415 ff.; [2]) and stood under the jurisdiction of the pontifex maximus . The vestal was 'taken' ( capere) as a six- to ten-years-old child by the pontifex maximus. This act had civil-law consequences: (a) w…

[German version] 1. Definition of the term Analogous to allegory ( Allegory) as a ‘figurative’, metaphorical manner of speech, allegoresis may be defined as metaphorical exegesis. In both cases two different systems of symbols are connected to each other with the help of specific rules: (basic) text and reference text, or wording (literal sense) and ‘deeper’ (‘real’) meaning. Allegory is a technique used in producing texts, allegoresis (or allegorical exegesis) is a technique used in responding to texts; it plays an important role in the  exegesis of holy scripture. The definition …

I. Begriffs- und Wirkungsgeschichte [English version] A. Begriff Das M. ist eine nicht als rechtswidrig angesehene Tötung, vergleichbar dem Töten im Krieg, der Todesstrafe, der Blutrache; es steht jedoch im Rahmen von Darbringungs-Ritualen, die (a) in der jeweiligen Rel. und Kultur allgemein akzeptiert sind und (b) ähnlich für die Tötung anderer Lebewesen gebraucht werden. Kein M. ist die Tötung von Menschen in anderen als nicht rechtswidrig angesehenen Ritualen, etwa im Rahmen von Totenkult (Gladiator) oder devotio in der Schlacht. Einen in de…

I. Begriff und Philosophie A. Moderner Begriff B. Lateinisch tolerantia: Wort und Begriff C. Toleranz zwischen Staat und Religionsgemeinschaften…

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[English version] ( virgo Vestalis). Der Kult der Vesta wurde von sechs virgines…

[German Version] 1 The Greek ritual of theoxenia (…

[German Version] The group of six Vestal virgins was responsible for the cult of Vesta: they watched over the “eternal” fire in her sanctuary, the public hearth, in the Roman Forum (Cic. De legibus 2.8.20 and 2.12.29) and prepared the mola salsa, a salted flour mixture sprinkled on sacrificial victims. They were present at major ceremonies (as depicted, e.g., on the interior of ¶ the Ara Pacis Augustae) and led the private nocturnal cult of the Bona Dea (Cic. De haruspicum responso 37; Plut. Cicero 19.3; Plut. Caesar 9f.). The group was directly under the authority of the pontifex maximus, who selected the girls ( captio: Gellius Noctes Atticae 1.12) and punished transgressions of the rules governing their service and life (absolute virginity during their 30-year term of service). The theological conception of their priestly role, especially the punishment of being buried alive if they transgressed the requirement of vi…

[German Version] (c. 4 bce, Córdoba – 65 ce, Rome), Roman philosopher, politician, and tragedian, the second of three sons of the rhetor L.A. Seneca the Elder, a member of the equestrian order in Hispania Baetica. His elder brother Novatus is better known under his adoptive name, J.A. Gallio; his younger brother Mela was the father of the epic poet Lucan; other members of the family were high provincial officials. Seneca grew up in Rome. Under the emperor Claudius, his political career was interrupted by banishment to Corsica in 41; Claud…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Use of the Greek word σύμβολον/ sýmbolon in a sense relevant to religious studies is attested quite early in the history of European religions; Dio of Prusa (1st/2nd cent. ce), for example, used it in his speech on Phidias’s statue of Zeus in Olympia ( Oratio 12.59). In this context, the Greek term reflects the problem posed by images of the gods: what is intrinsically inaccessible to human vision (Vision/Intuition) is somehow to be represented visually. In religious studies, especially in the phenomenology of religion, the concept of symbols has played an important role. It presupposes the distinction …

[German Version] is the theory that the gods are human beings deified on account of their merits. It remains unclear when and how the term originated. In myths – “When the gods were human beings…” (Old Babylonian Atrahasis Epic) – and as an exegetical schema (Greek Sophistic School), Euhemerism antedates the eponymous Euhemerus of Messene, an adviser to King Cassandrus of Macedonia from 311 to 298 bce. In his (lost) utopian novel ῾Ιερὰ ἀναγραφή/ Hierá anagraphḗ, the human genealogy of the gods and their cults is revealed as a “sacred inscription” in the temple of Zeus Triphylius on the island of Panchea. The primary sources for this tradition are Ennius (shortly after 200 bce), the historian Diodorus Siculus, and Christian writers, above all Lactantius and Eusebius of Caesarea. The ambivalence inherent in the construct – criticism of religion and the gods or …

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[German Version] 1. Latin interpretari means, similar to Gk ἑρμηνεύω/ hermeneúō, “to interpretet, to translate, to make understandable.” Interpres (translator, mediator, exegete) and interpretatio are technical terms of exegesis in jurisprudence, literature, and religion. Interpretatio Romana/Graeca are not used technically in classical antiquity; interpretatio Graeca is a modern expression coined in analogy to Tacitus's singular statement ( Germania 43) that two Germanic deities are to be identified with Castor and Pollux “according to Roman interpretation”; this is their “effective power” ( vis), th…

[German Version] (Salustios). There is no direct evidence for either the identity or the dates of Sallustius. His work – ¶ given the title περὶ ϑεῶν καὶ κόσμου/ perí theṓn kaí kósmou (“About Gods and …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. Classical Antiquity …

[German Version] Vesta, Roman goddess. Her name was felt to be Greek, and her sphere – hearth and altars, protection of “the innermost things” – led her to be identified with the Greek goddess ῞Εστία/ Hestía (Cic. Nat. d. 2.67). The etymology of her name is still debated. Her sanctuary, aedes Vestae, a rotunda in the Roman Forum, was part of an ancient complex beside the via sacra, which included the house in which the Vestal virgins lived (Rome: II, 2.b). Although she was a virgin, she bore the honorific title Mater. Her cult was associated with the preservation of the Roman state. H…

[English Version] Phaedrus, röm. Fabeldichter der 1. Hälfte des 1.Jh. n.Chr., geb. in Makedonien (Buch 3, Prolog), Freigelassener des Augustus, von Sejan verfolgt. Ph. hat die Fabel (griech. λο´γος/lo´gos, μυ˜ϑος/my´thos, lat. fabula, fabella) als eigenständige Gattung geschaffen; er hat seine (Kurz-)Gesch. (nicht nur von Tieren) metrisch gefaßt (iambische Senare) und zu fünf Büchern mit Prolog und – in den Büchern 2–4 – Epilog zusammengestellt. Die Fabelbücher des Ph. – und die wenig späteren griech. des Babrios – sind e…